On Monday, Communities Secretary James Brokenshire made a very positive statement in the House of Commons about the new Stronger Towns Fund which will sit alongside other revenue streams such as the Shared Prosperity Fund and Future High Streets fund as ways to help our cities, towns and villages

Good news this week as Somerset County Council has agreed to a full review of gritting and increasing the budget for next year. Obviously there have been some problems this year and thanks to everyone who got in touch to let me know about their experiences.

This week I have joined a working group to find solutions to issues around the Irish border and ‘backstop’ provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement proposed for our exit from the EU.

Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh was joined by Defence Procurement Minister Stuart Andrew at Leonardo for the announcement of the new 5 year contract for maintenance and repair of the fleet of 50 Apache attack helicopters. He hailed the contract as a great endorsement for the team and Yeovil site.

This week started with two pieces of positive news which I know will be of interest to a great many people across the South West and beyond and with which I have had some involvement as an MP.

It is hard to look back over 2018 without the sense that it has been dominated by Brexit. This is not surprising given how many areas it affects and what a significant moment it is in our country’s history.

Great news this week as our excellent Avon and Somerset Police have made further progress in tackling the ‘County Lines’ drug problems that have affected Yeovil as they have many other towns across the country.

The Post Office is currently running some local consultations that I would like to help make people aware of, regarding changes to provision in Yeovil and Shepton Beauchamp.

The Palace of Westminster isn’t like a modern work environment in many ways and, whilst it is a privilege to be there, it does present certain challenges including a lack of meeting rooms and quiet spaces.

Last week I visited Rotterdam on a trip to look at port and related facilities there. As Europe’s biggest port, it has the effect of making the Netherlands our third biggest destination for exports after America and Germany.